Replies to '03/06 Etiquette Dilemmas'

I too have the problem Joan has.  Smacking noises, loud or crunchy chewing, gum popping or smacking, loud MP3 players (just to name a few).  My family knows it bothers me and usually will stop before it irritates me too much.  I dont know if she has ADD, but I have panic disorder, and maybe she could have that. 

I have to say, it feels great for me to read all of this because I have been dealing with the same things as all of these people.  I just so happened to read a book about ADD (to diagnose someone else!) and then realized it sounded just like me instead!  It mentioned that people who are disturbed by continuous noises (chewing gum, ticking clocks, etc etc...) and can't seem to move past them as if nothing else is going on in the room, are people who have the signs of ADD.  We focus on that one noise, and can't cope with it - I was floored!  I was not diagnosed with this, however it was a relief to read that the problems I've been dealing with my whole life may actually have an explanation.  My friends and family cannot understand why these things bother me. 

Something else I can't stand is the sound of muffled tv noise through the walls, and snoring.  What medication helps your friend?! 

Wow,  I am not the only person who has all these signs:  they all fit me to a T.

The clinking of a spoon against a bowl, is something that I can hear 3 rooms away, and send me over the roof!  Ice-chewing, I can't take it,  I literally have to leave the room!  Clocks ticking are soo distracting that it is the only noise that I focus on.  Windshield wipers with a noise are completely irritating to me.  Any repetitive noise, like someone bouncing a basketball right next to me, a pencil tapping, and gum cracking.  I have literally had to leave events, because I was stuck next to someone who was doing one of these activities.  I am CONSTANTLY telling me kids to stop making these noises.  My husband thinks I am PSYCHO and says that he CAN'T DO ANYTHING because I'm nuts.    I have been made to feel as though I am ruining the household because I also cannot listen to these noises.  It's something that pulls me right to that sound, and I become obsessed with it, even though I don't want to hear it.      What medication is there for this type of possible ADD (now that I know what I have)??     What a relief to hear that I am not just a psycho or a obsessive psycho!!